Welcome to another episode of Throwdown. On this podcast/vidcast we discuss the latest video game, pop culture, and tech news in an honest and uncompromising fashion.
The Japanese helped to save the video game industry in the mid 1980s. After the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System, and for more than a decade afterward, Japan was the undisputed king of video games. No other countries, despite their efforts, could hope to touch Japanese game design and innovation.
After the early to mid 2000s however, things changed. Western studios became the new darlings of the gaming industry and initiated many of the revolutions and innovations that we enjoy today. During all of this, Japanese gaming’s influenced has severely declined and the former rulers no longer dominated the industry as they once did.
Why has this happened? This question is the basis for our main topic. What made Japan the giants of gaming that they once were and why have they become a mere shell of what they used to be? What can Japan do in order to become relevant again in the eyes of the gaming community? We tackle these questions and more.
[NOTE: Before we go into the main topic, we have a heated discussion about The Witcher 3 and its additional content and whether it was good will by CD Projekt RED or if they are capitalizing on how badly the games industry treats its customers.]
Also on this episode:
- Ultra Street Fighter IV on PS4 being a buggy, choppy mess.
- Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster and how Capcom wasn’t lying about doubling down on remakes.
- PlayStation Vita becoming a “Legacy” system and how this isn’t as bad as people think it is.
- Sony admitting they have “sparse” first party line-up this Fall.
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Thanks as always to Shawn Daley for our awesome intro and outro music.
